l stokes



C. L. STOKES.

|NTERNAL comusnow ENGINE.

U APPLlcATIoN FILED APRZS. 1916. I Lm, mme@ July 1, 19m.

lm/zrdfolf.

A IVorncay.

c. L'. SToKEQ.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.25| 1916.

Patented July 1, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. L. STOKES.

INTERNAL CUMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLfcATIoN FILED APsLzs, |915.

Patented July 1, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET S.

C. LMYO kes C. L. STOKES.

INTERNAL coNBusTloN ENGINE.

Eatented July l, 1919.,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4. y

APPLICATION FILED APR 25 1915 N EN C L A Vo kC/j,

nvenlfor. www A Homey.

CHARLES LAWRENCE STORES, OlE MILLONG, VIA YUUNG, NEW SOUTH WALES,

A AUSTRALA.

lN'lERNMOMlUSTION ENGINE.

Lacasse.

Speciieation of Letters lEatent.

Patented @lluly il, lulu,

Application filed .april 25, 1916. Serial Nalll.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, CHARLES LAWRENCE S'roxns, a citizen of the lUnited States of America, residing at Millong, via Young,

New South Wales, Australia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lnternal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object the improvenient of the capacity and efficiency of internal combustion engines operating with heavy or light oil fuel, whether such engines are operated on two, four or six cycle.

The invention relates in part to a novel l5 method of and means for evacuating burned gases from the cylinder; and leaving the same charged with fresh gaseous medium, whether Jsuch medium be air or a combustible mixture. The improved effect is secured by 2u opening the cylinder through alternate belts of ports, preferably three in number, to a source or supply of compressed scavenging and charging medium and to the exhaust, so that the incomingair or gas acts in opposite longitudinal directions upon two faces of the body of gas in the cylinder, displacing the same through fractional longitudinal distances to the exhaust.

My method of discharging -the residual burnt gas and air scavenging and air charging the Cylinder is contradistinguished from existing practice according to which the scavenging air, or the vapor mixture'which is to form the following charge and is relied on to displace the residual burnt gas, acts upon one part only of the body of residual burnt gas and is therefore less effective for displacing said gas than is a body of scavenging alr or other medium which according A 40 to my method is brought into the cylinder at two places so as to encompass the residual burnt gas and displace it toward the exhaust port, 0r alternatively is brought -into the cylinder at a mid position therein between two exhaust ports located respectively at either end of the cylinder so as to divide the body of residual burnt gas and displace it in two portions toward each of said exhaust portsV respectively.

sleeve valve with a triple system of ports therein eoacting with a triple system of inlet and exhaust passages formed in the inner face of the cylinder wall, and the valveporting and the valve movement are so arranged ln carrying out my invention ll use a" as to open the cylinder to exhaust and to scavenging and chargingiiuid pressure successively in proper timing to gain the best advantages in power from the explosion. llither of two dispositions may be adopted. ln one disposition (as shown inthe drawings) the exhaust ports are in a middle position and the inlet ports are at end positions in the cylinder, so that the scavenging air or other medium acts behind either ends of the column of residual burnt gas and displaces it toward the intermediately located exhaust ports andy ejects it therethrough. n In the alternative disposition, exhaust is effected through the end ports and the scavenging medium is introduced through the intermediate ports, so that said scavenging inedium acts simultaneously upwardly and downwardly, dividing the column of residual gas in the cylinder and displacing it in two opposite directions toward said end ports respectively, and ejecting it therethrough. ln either case there are a series of intake and 'exhaust zones disposed in alternation, and

the incoming medium acts upon the residual cylindereontents in opposite directions in such manner as to secure a quick displacement and replacement with least mingling of the respective gas bodies.

The displacing medium may be compressedin the crank case, according to ordinary practice, or by external compressing means, or in an annular chamber concentric with the cylinder by a piston enlargement formed on the sleeve valve. ln the last case an advantageous result is secured by connecting the main piston and the piston sleeve with the crank shaft, so as to Vact in opposlte phase as a balanced couple. i

l ln accordance with one embodiment of my invention the fuel constituent of the charges is introduced into the cylinder by an injector, and in such event the scavenging medium will necessarily be air, to furnish the air constituent of the explosive or combustible mixture, which `is thus formed directly in the cylinder. A feature. of novelty in respect to this embodiment of the invention is the exterior location of the fuel injector, so that it maybe cooled by the air `current duringl the injection vperiod and at other times cut off from the interior ,of the cylinder by the sleeve valve acting as a curtain. This is of advantage both in protecting the injector and in guarding against vaporization of the fuel therein and consequent derangement of the injecting function.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the specification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical'transverse section through an engine according to this invention with sleeve valve driven by a cam on the crank shaft andy arranged for simple crank case compression, with a fuel pump operated by a tappet arm'on the skirt of the sleeve for two cycle operation and injecting liquid fuel into the cylinder through the bottom ports of the sleeve; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section corresponding with Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a vertical transverse section of another engine modified in construction in that the head is detachable and made with a cored passage through which the fuel passes from its place of entry through the top ports to the vicinity of the ignition plug, and the fuel pump is driven by gear (not shown) from the crank shaft; Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section through an engine in which the sleeve valve is driven by an eccentric fixed on the crank shaft and compressed air supply is obtained from a supplementary cylinder formed in the crank case for which cylinder a iange on the skirt of the sleeve forms an annular pist-on; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the fuel pump and injector valve as used in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1; Fig. G a similar view of the fuel injector valve as used in the arrangement shown in Fig. 4; and Figs. 7\, 8 and 9 are fragment sections respectively illustra tive of the relative position of sleeve ports to cylinder passages and piston during explosion stroke before opening of exhaust, at beginning of exhaust and before opening of the air ports, and just before the beginning of compression stroke when liquid fuel is about to be injected into the cylinder.

It will be noted that in the arrangement shown in Fig. 4 the sleeve valve works in opposite phase to the sleeve valves shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, for the reason that in the case of the construction shown in Fig. 4 the air supply is obtained from an auxiliary cylinder formed in the upper part of the crank case, while in the arrangement shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 simple crank case compression by piston and sleeve valve d'escent is relied on for air supply. As shown in Fig. 1, the fuel injection nozzle is fitted to inject liquid fuel through the bottom ports upward into the combustion space, while as shown in Fig. 3, the injector is shown fitted to introduce the fuel through a row 0f ports in the top of the sleeve, and thence through a cored passage in the depending head of the cylinder, so as to bring the fuel into the immediate vicinity of the ignition plug. In Fig. 4 the fuel injector is shown in the same valve to crank case 12, 22

position as in Fig. 3. In Figs. 1 and 2 the top end of the sleeve valve passes the top air passage way and provides a full opening for introduction of air into the head of the cylinder. Ity will be understood that it is not, material to the invention that the sleeve valve should have an upper row of ports cut in it; it need not have top ports cut in it if it move sufiiciently to open the combustion space to the top air passage way in the cylinder wall as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. lt will also be understood that in the sleeve operating means shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, where the sleeve valve is positively lifted by a cam acting against a roller and is returned by a spring, the spring may be dispensed with, if, instead of a surface cam, a box cam is used which embraces the anti-friction roller on the foot piece of the sleeve valve and operates to positively move said valve in both directions as is already done in certain known constructions of engines.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 10 is the c vlinder wall, 11 the jacket wall, 12 the crank case, 13 the crank shaft, 14 the crank pin, 15 crank counterbalance weight, 16 sleeve valve cam, 17 connecting rod. 1S gndgeon pin` 19 piston, 20 sleeve valve, 21 automatic air inlet adjustable shutter controlling opening to valve 21. 23 foot piece on sleeve valve 20. 24 anti-friction roller carried by the foot piece and working on the edge of the heart cam 16, is an exhaust port and 2G exhaust passage formed in the inner face of the cylinder wall 10 and leading to the exhaust and thence to atmosphere. 27 and 2S are air passages formed in the inner face of the cylinder wall 10 and connecting through an air passageway 29 with the crank case 12. 30 are exhaust ports` cut in the sleeve 20. 31 are air ports cut in said sleeve` 32 is the fuel injection pump, 33 the fuel injection nozzle, ll a fuel injection regulating valve, 35 a tappet arm on the skirt of the sleeve 20, and 3U a collar 0n the plunger 37 of the pump 32. 38 is a spring box containing a spring which acts to push the plunger 3T upward.

he passageways 26, 2T and 2S form belts which surround the sleeve valve, with their top edges normally square to the axis of the eylinder'and their lower edges tapered oil` to facilitate air and gas fiow.

In Fig. 3 the cylinder head 40 is of the removable type and depends into the cylinder, and the sleeve valve is prolonged on its upper end as shown at 4l and moves upward between the depending part of the cylinder head 40 and the cylinder wall. is a cored passageway in the waterjacketed metal block 43 which is located below the ignition plug hole 44. The fuel injector 45 is disposed to project fuel through the upper ports 46 at `the commencement of the compression stroke; said fuel docs not enter the body of the cylinder directly but passes into the same via the cored passage 42 by which it is heated and brought past the ignition points, whereby it is insured that the ignition points will always be surroundedv by a clean explosive charge containing a minimum `of burnt gas. The disposition of the exhaust and air passageways serving the middle and lower ports in the sleeve valve is the same in this construction as in that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. 47 is a 'springby which the sleeve valve is returned to its lower position and the roller 24 kept in contact with the surface of the cam 16. 'lhe skirt of the sleeve valve in Fig. 3 is formed with a flanged head 48 which forms an annular piston working in the cylindrical chamber 49 in the top of the crank case. rllhe addition of this Hanged head to the sleeve valve has the e'ect of improving the crank case compression, but ll do not claim any feature of invention in this connection.

The fuel injection nozzle as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is suppliedby an independent pump `50 and not by the self contained pump as is the fitting 32 shown 'in Fig. l. llt is however, immaterial to the invention whether the fuel injecting rectly with the fuel jet or made separate and pipedthereto as indica-ted in Fig. 4, so

long as vthe operating means act to apply pressure to the fuel and cause it to be ejected from the nozzle in proper timing for the charging of the cylinder. While in lg. 1 the operating means consist of a tappet nnger 35 carried on the skirt of the sleeve valve, said operating means in the construction shown vin Fig. 4 consists of a cam 51 on a shaft 52 which shaft is tooth geared or chain geared to the crank shaft 13. Said cam acts on the plunger 53, and said plunger is returned by a spring 54. 55 is a pipe connection to the nozzle 45; this pipe connection should be as short as practicable. Vlhe pump. fitting 50 may belocated at any convenient place, attached to the engine structure, but in the drawing is shown independently. of the engine structure to facilitate explanation. f

lt has been already stated that in the construction shown in Fig. 4, the sleeve valve is driven by an eccentric and moves in oppo site phase to the sleeve valves shown in the other figures, in relation to the piston movement. is the eccentric on the shaft 13, 61 the eccentric strap7 62 the eccentric rod, 63 the gudgeon pin which is carried in a lug 64 on the lower end of the sleeve valve. 65

is a flange on the lower end of the sleeve valve forming an ann-ular piston which works in a cylindrical casing 66 in the upper part of the crank case. 67 is an air inlet valve and 67X an air delivery valve, the latter valve connecting into a passageway 69 from whicli the air passages 2i' and 28 are design pump be associated oliit works in a branched. rlhe exhaust passage 26, as in the other drawings, 25, but it will be noted that, in view of the opposite phase movement of the sleeve valve,

the lower edges of the passages 26 and 27 and 28 are horizontally disposed in relation to the piston axis, and in the. case of this the sleeve valve is necessarily made with a top row of ports 70 in addition to the middle exhaust ports 30 and the lower air ports 3l. lin this construction it will be observed that the piston sleeve and the main piston are connected with the crank shaft so as to constitute a balanced couple, their movements being in opposite phase. I do not limit myself in this connection to the use of an eccentric and an eccentric strap, and it will be appreciated that by virtue of the balancing the counterbalance weight 15 may be omitted or greatly reduced in size.

eferring to Fig. 5, 37 is the oil pump plunger, 36 a coll-ar thereon, 38 a bottom guide which forms also a casingf for the helical spring 80, which acts upwardly against the plunger 37. rlhe striker finger 35 acts downwardly against the plunger collar 36 in the downward movement of the sleeve 20. 'lllie upper end of the plunger 37 has one or more guide flutes 81 cut in it. and cylinder 82 formed in the body 0f the nozzle. 83 is a stuling box. 84 is an oil way connecting through a passage 85 closed by a spring' controlled check valve 86. When said valve 86 i-s open, the passageway 85 is in communication with the throat 87 at the base of ythenozzle 88. 89X is an oil delivery passageway from the top of the cylinder 82 into the nozzle 88. 89 is a nipple head fitted to the nozzle 88, and 90 is a jet pinhole in the point of the nipple 89. 91 is an Vautomatic check valve, the body of which is fluted as shown at 92 to forni a guide and passageway, the Hutes extending not quite as far back as the foot flange 93 which seats against the ring base 94. The forward end of this valve 91 seats in the nipple 89 and is coned and seated neatly at the base'of the pin hole 90. 'llliisvalve is maintained normally cl-osed 'by a helical spring 95 in compression, and the tension op said spring is adjusted by a thumb screw 9i working through a stufiiiig'box 9 8. 99 is a passageway leading to the oil service connection, and 190 are flanges by which the avhole fitting is attached to the engine case iii the manner shown in Fig. 1 The air inlet valve 2l may be of any convenient type and the air control shutter 22 is preferably in the form of a gate which can loe set across the air inlet opening so as to vary the availa'ble air inlet aperture. rlhis gate. 22 is hung on a spindle 101 which carries 01H its inner end a cam 192. Said cam forms a stop which controls the upward movement of the plunger 3l, so that the supply of fuel opens into the exhaust Y is proportioned in relation to the air inlet.

When the air-gate 22 is completely closed, the cam 102 is at full throw and then acts to allow no movement to the plunger 37. As

the gate 22 is opened t'he cam 102 is turned,

and a proportionately greater stroke allowed to the plunger 37.

In the alternative form of fitting shown in Fig. 6,. which isthe jet fitting indicated in Figs. 3 and '4, the principle of construction p and operation is substantially identical. In

this case the pump 50 maintains oil under pressure in the passageway 110, whence the oil passes through the check valve box 111 air to act against two faces of the mass of residual gas in the cylinder, said object may be attained either in the construction shown in the -drawings by which the air is introduced into the two ends of the cylinder and the exhaust evacuated through a central row of ports, or it may be equally well attained by a reverse dispositionin which the scavenging air is introduced intothe cylinder through the middle row of ports and the cylin er gases evacuated through the two end ports.

The operation of the preferred form of X application of the invention is as follows:

Referring to Figs. l1 and '2, and 7, 8 and9. On the explosion stroke in, which the piston moves downward, the sleeve valve also moves downward, as said stroke is nearing lts completion. In this downward movement of the sleeve valve, the exhaust ports 30 open into the exhaust passageway 26,

whereupon the pressure in the cylinder 1s exhausted through said passageway 26 and the exhaust vent 25. The combustion space .remains charged for the moment with ref sidual gas. Immediatelyafter the exhaust port has been so opened (usually after the sleeve has moved about one-eighth of an inch) the sleeve valve opens the combustion space to the air passageways 27 and 28.

Meantime the downward movement of the sleeve and piston has created a condition of atmospheric pressure above atmosphere 1n the crank case 12, and air under'pressure 1n the crank case passes upward through the passage 29 andthe said air passages'27 and 28, and rushes into the combustion space, displaclng'the burnt gases by acting against two faces of the mass of same and forcing same out through the exhaust ports 3Q, which the cylinder and piston.

are now approaching the full open position. As the crank p-in passes its bottom center, and upward movement ofthe piston is about to commence (see Fig. 9) the fuel injection device operates, and a jet of fuel predetermined in volume by the regulation of the injection valve is delivered through the lower row of ports 31 into the combustion space, which space at `this time contains practically nothing but free air. This delivery of fuel ceases before the p'orts 31 are closed by the upward movement of the sleeve 20. As the rotational movement of the cranklcontinues', the piston is forced upward compressing and intermixing the charge of liquid fuel and air, the fuel being vaporized as is well known by the heat of On the piston reaching the top of its stroke or thereabout, the ignition is controlled according to known practice, with the result that explosion occurs; and the same cycle of operations is repeated indefinitely while the engine is maintained in action. The position of the sleeve and piston in relation to the passageways in the cylinder wall is shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, Fig. 7, showing the parts as they appear after the explosion has occurred and while the piston is moving downwardly and before the sleeve commences to move downwardly. Fig. 8 shows the same position when the piston is nearing the lower end of its stroke and the exhaust ports are just opening. Fig. 9 shows the exhaust ports `fully open at the bottom of the stroke, and

the air ports fully opened.

In Fig. 3 the operation is substantially l identical, with the exception that fuel injection takes place through the upper row of ports 46 in the sleeve and the fuel is brought 105 into the immediate vicinity of the ignition device. In Fig. 4 the fuel is directed into the upper part of the cylinder, and air supply to the passageway 6,9, which corresponds with the passageway 29 in Fig. 1, is ob- 110 tained from the annular compression cylinder 68. Though the movement of the sleeve/ valve in Fig. 4 is opposite in phase to the movement of the sleeve valve shown in the other figures, the opening of the combustion space to exhaust and air successively in order is identical in all the constructions illustrated.

In the operation of the fuel pump and valve, Fig. 5, the plunger 37 is retracted in the downward movement of the sleeve. In the upward movement of the sleeve it is released and forced upward by the spring 80. When the end of the iiutes 81 pass the oil way 84, oil is forced by the plunger through the passageway 89 into the nipple. The back pressure of this oil acting on the valvlelill forces said valve backward, thus opening'the pin hole 90. As soon as theflutes 92 provide a way for the oil to pass backward, the surplus Lacasse of oil passesthe flange 94 and goes by way of the passageway 87 back to the oil service connection 99. rll`he tension on the spring 95 is adjusted by the thumb screw 97 and serves to regulate the valve so that with the lower ends of the flutings 92 carried back a proper distance in relation to the flange 94, a predetermined volume of liquid fuel is ejected through the pin hole 90 at each reciprocation of the plunger 37. rlhe quantity of liquid fuel so ejected is also controlled bythe range of movement permitted to the plunger 37 by the adjustment of the cam stop 102. lt will be noted that the utings 81 in the top of the plunger must be cut back just the proper distance in relation to the oilway 84 to assurean adequate movement of the liquid fuel by the plunger, proportioned `to the setting of the stop control 102.

The operation in the case of the fuel jet shown in Fig. 6 is substantially identical.l lFuel under pressure passes at each impulse of the pump through the passages 110, 111 and 112, and acting on the fluted valve 114 causes same to jump back at .each impulse sufficiently long to allow the necessary quantity of fuel to be ejected through the pin hole jet and pass surplusage of the volume pr `nped back into the oil chamber having the air chamber 116, whence during the return stroke of the pump the surplusage passes back through the check valve 117 to the oil service 110. .The air locked chamber 116 serves to hold oil in the passageway under pressure until the pump makes its return stroke.

lWhen the engine is arranged for four cycle or six cycle operation, or for change over at will so as to operate on either the two cycle system or the four cycle system, the tappet device 35 shown in Fig. 5 for operating the fuel injector cannot be used; this operating device is usable only in engines arranged for two-cycle operation. For fourcycle operation or for optional operation on two cycle or four cycle, the injector operating device is of the type shown semi-diagrammatically in' Fig. 4. For fourcycle operation, a single arm cam 51 is fitted on the shaft 52 and said shaft is turned at half crank shaft speed.

What I claim as my invention and desir to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An internal combustion engine, 'com prising a cylinder closed at its inner or head tional longitudinal distances to the exhaust.

2. An internal combustion engine, comprising a 4cylinder closed at its inner or lhead end, a piston reciprocating therein, and

a sleeve valve encircling the piston, said cylinder and sleeve valve having belts of inlet ports adjacent the headend and the outer limit of piston travel, respectively, and a belt of exhaust ports at approximately the middle of the piston travel, and means for supplying gaseous fluid under pressure for admission through the inlet ports, whereby the said fluid acts upon opposite ends of the body of the previous cylinder contents and drives the same toward the central exhaust.

3. An internal combustion engine, com prising a cylinder closed at its inner or head end, a piston reciprocating therein, the cyl inder being provided with ports adjacent the head endrand the outer limit of piston travel, respectively, and with central ports, said ports being alternately for inlet and exhaust, valve means whereby said ports are open at the same time, and means for fsup-` j plying gaseous fluid under pressure to the cylinder through the inlet ports, whereby the said fluid when admitted displacesvthe previous cylinder contents in opposite direcvtions through fractional longitudinal distances to the exhaust.

4. lln an internal combustion engine, the combination of a cylinder and cylinder head` the cylinder having a lateral port, a sleeve valve controlling said port, and a fuel injector disposed to deliver through said port1 the head having a cored passage in line with the injector.

In testimony whereof' ll have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES LAWRENCE STORES.

Witnesses:

H, C. CAMPBELL, W.vl[. DAVIS. 

